In this activity you will take a short period of time to become familiar with your new lab space and some of the equipment that is in it. You will need a notebook or at least a piece of paper that you can glue into your notebook later. Here is a list of lab equipment:
For each of the items in the list above make a space in your lab notebook for:
Note: The point of the activity is in part that you find out what everything is and where it is. But another benefit is that you talk to your classmates and your teacher and begin to get comfortable in this new class!
Safety in a laboratory is the most important consideration in everything that you will do. To help you to be familiar with the safety equipment in the room, find the following items:
For each of the items in the list describe the item’s location in the room. Sketch a map of the room and clearly show where each item is found. If you need help with this, please ask! Be able to explain the difference between the situations where you would use a fire extinguisher, a safety showers, and the eyewash station.
Once you have completed your scavenger hunt bring your work to your teacher to receive credit.
The final task in this activity is to learn how to make precise measurements. When baking in your home kitchen you need to know the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. One of them is three times the size of the other! It is important to use the right tool to make a precise measurment. Precision is about how small the smallest distinction you can make is. For example, people usually measure height in feet and inches but we do not include the nearest quarter, eighth, or sixteenth of an inch. That is just too much precision!
In chemistry, we sometimes need very high precision. For this challenge I want you to measure precisely 100.0 mL of water using whatever tools you choose. You may ask your teacher for help in using the tool you choose but your teacher will not tell you if it is the best tool for the task.
When you are ready, show your teacher your completed work for parts I and II. At the same time, bring the measured 100.0 mL of water to your teacher for testing. You will receive 100% for this activity if your volume is within 1 mL of 100 mL. So as long as it is between 99 mL and 101 mL you earn full marks. But if it is outside of this range then you will earn a 95%. That is, as long as the other parts are complete, too!